Chapter 24 - Nicholas #2
I deduce that I’m probably feeling this way because it’s the first time we’ve really been alone since I professed my love for her.
But no, I can’t be a coward anymore, so I take a deep breath as Donna removes the towel from around her hips, tosses it to the side, and steps onto the platform of the private hot tub.
I’m about to lose myself in admiring her, the way the bathing suit molds to her petite frame and holds her voluptuous breasts up, but I quickly strip down to my shorts, then step up behind her.
“Here,” I say as I hold my hand out, “let me help you.”
“Thank you,” she responds shyly as she takes my hand and allows me to help her step inside the hot tub.
Once she’s safely inside, I follow her in, lowering myself across from her, watching her close her eyes and relish the warmth of the water.
“Oh, my Goddess…” she murmurs, eyes closed with her head thrown back and arms stretched out to the sides. “I think I’m in heaven.”
Smiling crookedly, I let out a soft chuckle. “Well, it could be our little slice of heaven.”
Donna lifts her head, her eyes meeting mine, warm, brown orbs twinkling with wonder. “I like the sound of that. Considering everything that’s happened…” she sighs, lowering her eyes with sadness, “it’s nice to feel normal for a change.”
“Normal…?” I murmur, soon realizing that Donna has only been pretending to be calm and collected, while she’s been battling so much internally. I can see it in her eyes now, even when she refuses to meet mine.
Taking a deep breath and deciding it’s really not the time to be a coward, but rather a pillar of strength for her, I slowly slide toward her, my arm going around her shoulders.
“Donna…you’re extraordinary, magnificent, and you’re far from normal.
But that’s what I love most about you.” I offer her a smile then.
“I won’t pretend to know what you went through, using your powers the way you did that night, but I can promise to be the anchor to keep you grounded whenever you need me. ”
Donna blinks at me a few times, her bottom lip trembling before she speaks, saying, “Y-you mean that?”
“Of course, I do, sweetheart,” I say sincerely as I lift a hand to cradle her cheek. “I meant what I said…I love you, Donna, and I will always be there for you. I’ll always be whatever you need me to be.”
Donna’s eyes fill with tears, her bottom lip still trembling. “Then I’m gonna need you to be more than just my mate.” She pauses long enough for my brows to knit in a frown, but just as I’m about to open my mouth to ask what she means, she says, “I’m gonna need you to be a father, too.”
My whole world stops, my jaw dropping.
“A f-father…?” I murmur like an idiot, like a dumbfounded fool, and I probably look like it, too, because Donna giggles loosely, nervously.
“Yes, Nicholas. I’m pregnant. I found out at the clinic, and asked Emily to keep it a secret. I wanted to have a moment alone with you, to tell you.”
Something shifts inside me the moment those words leave her lips, and the shock passes through so I can move again, grabbing her into my arms and letting a cheerful cry escape my lips.
“What?! Oh, my Goddess! Are you serious?! I’m gonna be a father?!”
Donna, somehow on my lap in the hot tub, turns toward me and cups my face with tiny hands. “Yes, Nick, you’re gonna be a father,” she giggles, more sincerely this time.
That’s when I kiss her, my heart pounding with joyful feelings and swelling with pride.
A father?
“I can’t believe it…” I whisper against her lips when we stop kissing. “You have no idea how happy this makes me, Donna. I never imagined being a father, but it’s the best news ever.”
Donna smiles wistfully. “At least Nolan will be happy to hear this.”
I lift my head, rolling my eyes. “This has nothing to do with my father. This is between us. It’s our joy. Our story.”
A tear slips down Donna’s cheek as she nods slowly, arms winding around my neck. “You just gave me another reason to love you, Nicholas.”
My heart stops a second time tonight, and Donna must see the shock on my face, because she says, “What did you think, Nick? That I didn’t love you anymore?”
“It’s what I deserved.”
“I could never stop loving you,” she admits, tears streaming down her cheeks freely now. “I also knew, from the first time we met, the first time we shook hands, the first time our eyes met…”
“I love you, Donna.”
“I love you, too, Nicholas.”
Our lips meet in a rhythmic dance, everything we’ve ever wanted to say now out in the open and making the kiss feel lighter and more magnetic than ever.
Donna’s body molds to fit mine as she straddles me, and my hands are all over her body, caressing, smoothing, feeling her physical form the way my heart and soul feel our bond.
“Are you sure?” I ask when we break the kiss to catch our breath, and Donna tightens her arms around me.
“Don’t ask me silly questions, Nick,” she groans, her next kiss firm, her teeth latching on my bottom lip. “I’ll never be surer of anything.”
Smirking against her lips, I kiss her again, happier than I’ve ever been.
I’m probably the luckiest werewolf alive, and I’m about to show my mate how grateful I am when I pray between her thighs.